Place: Reviews & Ratings

This was the first stop on our road trip from Michigan to Arizona to visit some good friends going to school out there. Albuquerque was the first big city we stopped for the night in, so we decided to hit the local scene to see what we could find. We arrived at Jubilation due to its respectable ratings here on BA, and we were not disappointed.

Jubilation sits off a decently main road through town, with its own parking lot that is easily accessible. The outside of the building appears to be a marginally intimidating, if you’re scared off by slatted, barred windows and side doors. You walk up a short set of stairs into the front door, which sits towards the side street flanking the building. Your immediate left takes you down toward a large wine section, while directly in front of you sits their liquor selection. Flanking these central, shelved displays are the beer coolers in a wide “L” shape hugging two sides of the store. Parts of this selection are organized by region, with little tags suggesting new finds or local varietals. There are a few random case stacks that seemingly display one-offs or rarer seasonal releases. The store is otherwise not very ornate, but it isn’t something that bothers you, or that you even think about while perusing.

We were asked almost immediately if we needed help with anything, so we struck up a conversation with a friendly, knowledgeable employee who was hanging around the beer aisles. He was happily able to oblige our request for “great New Mexican beers”, and could discuss the subtleties of many of the beers he was suggesting. We found some Avery “Barrel Series” beers, wax-top Deschutes offerings, and some nice local IPAs and called it a day. These were the premier bottles on sale, but the selection was otherwise reasonable, especially for someone from out of town.

Overall, this store was exactly what we were looking for and hoping for. It was a quick in-and-out, and just about everything about it was a pleasurable experience. Although we didn’t have time to jump around Albuquerque to get more exposure to the scene as a whole, and to form a basis of comparison, we would certainly recommend this place. (2,208 characters)

Severely hampered my distribution limits, the service is second to none and outlay is great. A great place to load up on local faces like LA Cumbre, and staff know beer. My go to beer store in Albuquerque. (207 characters)

First place we stopped on the way into Albuquerque. Not the best looking place from the outside thanks to the bard on the windows and doors but it is fine once you are inside. Feels much bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside. Quality is solid, lots of locals and plenty of beers from the west coast as well. Service was awesome. The guys behind the bar were really helpful and offered some suggestions one what I should get. Selection was pretty good, a bit small for the space but they had plenty of solid offerings to choose from. Prices where more than reasonable. Overall a really solid bottle shop that I would defiantly return to if I was in the area. (671 characters)

Great local store in Albuquerque. They carry a few things that the newly opened Total Wine doesn't (and vice versa), and definitely has the best selection in Albuquerque. The staff is super helpful/friendly, and this is always my first stop before going anywhere else.

They have an email list with the latest news on new beer (and wine and hard liquor), and they frequently do tastings. Definitely sign up if you're an Albuquerque resident.

They have a nice mix your own six section with a lot of the seasonals so you can try them all. It's especially handy in the fall when all the pumpkin brews come out. (608 characters)

I visit here about once a week if not more as it is my go-to spot in Albuquerque for beer. They have the best selection of any locally-owned establishment and have better prices---most of the time---than Total Swine. Also, they have all the local stuff like La Cumbre, Marble, Santa Fe Brewing, etc. much fresher than at the big box store. I always check before buying La Cumbre and notice that here, you'll be getting the week-old Elevated, where as Total Wine's are usually a month to a month and a half from their canning date.

Here you can find every craft beer available in New Mexico and they have a great Facebook page on which they share new arrivals the day of. I really appreciate this. The imported beer selection is damn good too, with all the good German, Belgian and Italian offerings that make their way into our distribution-deprived state. Though most Burquenos (folks from Albuquerque) don't know it, a sketchy liquor store called Bird of Paradise and a place north of Santa Fe called Kokoman have more Belgians and Germans, but still, Jubilation is always on point.

As for the staff, the guys are always helpful and more inclined to have people drinking good beer than simply pushing a micro or macro on the customer. Also, they do have a level one Cicerone who is quite knowledgeable, affable, and fun to talk beer with.

For those not into beer, they have great liquor and beer selections as well.

Finally, this place always is doing beer tastings, most recently being the newly arrived Alaskan Brewing offerings, and that is very much appreciated.

For some strange reason they tried to charge me for a bottle of wine I didn't even purchase. Luckily i realized something was off in the pricing, cause they didn't notice until after I was hesitant and asked to see the receipt first.

Oh well, sh*t happens, and they were more than happy to correct the mistake.

They had a really awesome deal going on where if you buy a Unibroue bomber, you can get any beer glass you want for free.My main gripe (besides the cashier goof-up), was the fact that the beers didn't end up tasting all that great. Perhaps improper handling (light/heat protection)? Or maybe it was just me. Whatever the case, the beers just didn't seem as delicious as usual. My brothers a beer novice, so I recommended he get a Trois Pistoles bomber (which sold for about $8), and picked out the matching Trois Pistoles snifter for free. Bomber + Official logo glass for under ten bucks? That's a steal.

My wife picked up the La Fin Du Monde glass. There was at least half a dozen others to choose from.

Also found some hard to find Stone Collaboration bottles, and they had a pretty good price on them as well.

Aside from bombers and six packs, there's also a selection of single 12oz bottles. (1,242 characters)

Visited several times on a business trip to Albuquerque. Thank you to several BAs for recommending this place. Very easy to find: Lomas is a major east-west road in town. Plenty of parking too.

Staff is very friendly and helpful. Showed me where the singles cooler was, answered questions about what's available in NM, etc.

Great selection of western U.S. beers (Deschutes, Odell's, Great Divide, Avery, Ska, Stone, Left Hand, Left Coast, New Belgium, Moylan's), including just about every beer brewed in NM. Nice selection of Belgians and other European beers too (Mikkeller, Nogne O). Found some nice rarities in Deschutes The Abyss, Odell's Woodcut No. 4, and Liefmans Goudenband. The singles cooler doesn't have much, but at only $1.50 per 12 oz. bottle, it's great for trying new beers on the cheap. I think my only complaint about this place was the lack of Odell's in the singles cooler.

Overall this is a great shop with friendly, knowledgable staff. (961 characters)

After reading previous reviews I was convinced that the parking lot, 'getting in/out' was going to be a pain, but I was wrong. It was an easy find and an even easier parking experience.

I love this place. Simple as that.

There are beers that I've kinda written off as never going to find them. Then I walk in to a store in the middle of New Mexico and my jaw hits the floor. I then start worrying about how pissed my wife is gonna be when she finds out how much I've spent.

Service was maybe just a bit below excellent, the guys were willing to help me but all I could say was 'don't know still trying to decide what I can do without'. Prices were average, and compared to another local beer store a little bit less.

Highly recommend to anyone in Albuquerque, and to those passing through. (803 characters)

This was a repeat visit to Jubilation. Beer selection is relatively good, given the market. Coolers are excellent and have expanded since my previous visit (Jan 2008). However, they seem to have expanded only their wine selection since a vast majority of the store's real estate is devoted to wine. Other stores in the local area are starting to challenge the selection available at Jubilation. I will return, but came away disappointed that the store expansion did not result in a growth of beer choice as well. (512 characters)

After checking out the reviews here, I went by Jubilation Fine Wines, as I was in New Mexico for a week again on business travel. The store is well laid out, with the beer occupying the rear of the store. As far as I could tell, almost all of the beer was in coolers. VERY nice. There was an open cooler for 6 packs, and closed refrigerator for Bombers. Myself and a coworker were able to get Kulmbacher EKG, New Belgium 1554, Mothership Wit, Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA, Mikkeller Stateside IPA, and Affligem Tripel, none of which are available in our home state of Oklahoma. The service was fine, though no one asked us if we needed any help. Selection overall is good, perhaps the best in Albuquerque though. Decent prices, though some of the 750mL can be expensive. Overall, one of the best beer stores in ABQ IMO. (819 characters)

This place sits on a pie shaped property at a 3 road intersection so it is a bit confusing on how to get inside. The entrance is around by the back parking lot.

Once inside there are there separate rooms of wine and liquor with a small three doors of beer coolers. After walking around a bit I fond a stand alone cooler and a small shelf with other beers which didn't seem to have a theme other than beers not in the main cooler. They had a good selection of Stone, Odell, Full Sail, Dales cans and BBC. Marble brewing was the only local beer I could find from the southwest.

They had bombers and six-packs of craft beer but no 12oz. singles. Many of the bombers were pretty cheap with some of them under 4 dollars. All the beer prices were posted on a poster above the coolers and many of them were marked on the bottles, from the website http://www.jubilationwines.com they do have some beer events but the two guys behind the counter were to busy talking about ports to talk to me.

I would definitely stop back in if I was in ABQ, and it seems they have a good selection of seasonals aswell. (1,100 characters)

Just want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who reviewed this place before me. Thanks for the info and pointing me in the right direction! This is a MUST if you are spending enough time in ABQ to buy beer.

Quality:This is a large wine store with one refrigerator dedicated to delicious beer. The volume is not extraordinary, but the variety is great, considering you're in NM. The only downside is the inability to mix and match sixers. That being said, they do have a great selection of larger singles to enjoy.

Service:The staff was certainly knowledgeable and approachable. They took me back into the cooler - always a plus. We discussed the unfortunate state regulations responsible for the unavailability of a certain brewery's fine brews. These guys know beer and have strong opinions.

Selection:They have a good amount of Stone and Rogue varieties (6-8 deep). They have a good selection of domestic craft brews - another plus - and a decent selection of imports, as well. I didn't see any macros anywhere. It doesn't mean they weren't there, it might be because I was not looking for them. (1,113 characters)

I was a little skeptical when we walked in, as their wine selection is pretty large and the beer was not immediately noticeable. Walk towards the back though, and in the coolers they have just about every NM micro and many good selections from CO, which was what we were interested in. They also have a good selection of English, Belgian and German imports.

Staff was friendly, knowledgeable and happy to discuss beer.

The only drawback is that they would not allow us to mix or break six packs. (565 characters)

Stopped here while in New Mexico on business on 8/30. Found the place by checking BA before the visit.

There are maybe 5 cooler doors behind which sit all of the beer. The selection was OK, including a decent variety of Belgians, UK, Germans, Unibroues, and local brews (including chili beer). Seems that the majority of the customers were from University of New Mexico, at least while I was there. But students with a flare for stylish beers by their conversations.

I bought some Maredsous and also a blond dubbel from Ska brewing company. Nice stop. (558 characters)

I recently hosted a house warming party and wanted a good selection of beers for my guests. I have until now been really displeased with the selection of beers in most markets in NM. After hearing about Jubilation I thought I would give it a try. When I walked in and saw the beer cooler i thought there was no way they would have a good selection...small cooler with only 4 or 5 doors. But the way it is organised proved me wrong. I had printed the top 100 list from this sight just to see what I could find. Surprisingly I found quite a few. The beer manager came over and we must have talked about beers for atleast 30 minutes. He let me know that he is constantly trying to bring in better beers. We both mentioned a few breweries we would like to see out here...i.e. Dogfish Head, Alesmith, etc. Now I frequent Jubilation every few weeks to restock my beer fridge. (869 characters)

This is probably the best place to buy beer in Albuquerque. They have a good selection, really good service, people on staff who like beer, and pretty good prices. The drawback is that they do not devote a lot of room in the store to beer (but they make good use of limited space). They sponsor a couple of beer tastings a year. Overall a good establishment. (358 characters)